


Ephemeral

by seishun



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 02:12:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7022128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seishun/pseuds/seishun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A recollection of how Knights used to be when it was just the three of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He regards his memories of his first year at Yumenosaki Academy fondly. After all, it was during that time when he met Leo and Ritsu, when he formed Knights with just the three of them, and when he felt the most alive.

Of course, his first impressions of the two were definitely not the best.

Leo was loud, brash, and overall an annoying person. When he found himself seated next to this troublesome kind of person, he was absolutely prepared to request to be moved to a different seat immediately, but decided against it since it simply wouldn’t do to bother the teacher on the first day of school and leave a bad image with the faculty.

He remembers believing it a mistake valuing his image over his sanity, because Leo was absolutely infuriating, and it wasn’t Leo’s personality alone that greatly offended Izumi. Despite the kind of person he presented himself to be, Leo was an unexpected genius, and he seemed to always be one step ahead of Izumi. That wouldn’t do.

Izumi liked to think he was the best at everything he did, because that was how it had always been, at least up until he met Leo. From modeling to ballet to school, for the sake of his image, Izumi Sena always had to be perfect and the absolute best. To have someone above him made him uncomfortable—very uncomfortable. Extremely uncomfortable.

Leo Tsukinaga was revolting to the core.

…

Yet, despite all this hatred, somewhere along the way, he never thought that this would ever happen, he came to admire this weird person.

* * *

He remembers how loud Leo’s voice was and how it seemed like the idiot was always yelling everything he said no matter what the environment was. He remembers speed walking away from Leo after he called out to him, thinking that maybe Leo would give up the stupid idea of dragging Izumi into his shady shenanigans because Izumi clearly wasn’t interested.

Unfortunately (or perhaps, fortunately), Leo was tenacious. (Either Leo was stupid and didn’t notice how Izumi didn’t want anything to do with him, or Leo was stupid and did notice but chose to ignore it.) He charged toward Izumi at an alarming speed, shouting, “Heeey, you! Senaaa~!”

The inevitable collision that followed was rough. It was a mystery how Izumi came out unscathed, but it was also a mystery how it was possible for anyone to run that fast. Regardless, that mattered little when Izumi was more concerned about the potential harm the fall could’ve done to his face.

Izumi forced himself up from the ground, dusted himself off, and then placed his hands on his hips. “Are you stupid? You’re stupid, aren’t you. Do you know what could’ve happened just now? Do you know what could happen to ME if there’s even so much a scratch on my body? Do you have any idea who I am—? Agh, geez, what do you want from me?!”

Leo, unfazed by Izumi’s anger, hopped up from the ground and grinned. He pointed a finger at Izumi dramatically, his bright, green eyes literally sparkling from excitement, exclaiming, “Join my unit!”

“No.”

Izumi sharply turned around and walked away, ignoring Leo for the remainder of the day.

* * *

Izumi has met many different kinds of people from his experience as a professional model. All were annoying, but none as annoying as this orange-haired gremlin that followed him around all day, demanding him to join his unit.

“Sena~! Come on, come be a part of my uniiiiit~!!”

“No.”

“Pleeeeease~?”

“No.”

“Come onnn!”

This exchange was repeated far too many times. It was absolutely grating on Izumi’s nerves. When will Leo Tsukinaga just give up and look for someone else—someone who was actually interested in lame things like making friends, teamwork, and all those other gross, cheesy things. As far as Izumi was concerned, he was perfectly content with performing as a solo idol. It was the way things had always been for him, the way he was used to—the way he liked it.

Joining a unit and being forced to work with strangers who he was expected to get along with and trust? Not to mention, with Leo? How stupid… but in acknowledgment of Leo’s stupidly unwavering attitude, Izumi would consider it a little more.

“Who else is in your unit?” asked Izumi. “Don’t get the wrong idea, this doesn’t mean my answer has changed in the slightest.”

Leo immediately perked up and beamed. “No one!”

“No one?”

“Nope~! No one!”

“…For fuck’s sake.”

If only out of pity, Izumi ended up forming a unit with Leo.

However, he later discovered that Leo hadn’t bugged anyone other than Izumi about joining Knights.

* * *

People said marriage was crazy, and while Izumi had no idea what marriage was like, he was almost certain forming Knights with Leo was crazier than marriage. Everything about the unit was so haphazardly thrown together on the spot, and Leo didn’t seem to have any idea what he was doing with the paperwork. Incomplete documents, along with countless pens, were scattered everywhere. Everything was a mess, and Izumi was ready to murder. Who? Probably Leo.

“Leo.”

“Hm~? Sena~?”

“Stop.”

“Stop wh—?”

“Everything. Just, just stop.”

In the end, Izumi did the paperwork. He was bitter.

Leo had the nerve to misspell his name as Izumi Cena on multiple documents.

* * *

Though on most days, Leo was an absolute loud and obnoxious idiot, there were some instances where he was unexpectedly cool, and there were instances where he could stay quiet for more than two seconds.

At first, Izumi was frightened by the fact that Leo wasn’t rambling on about his little sister or some other mundane thing, but he gradually came to appreciate this more serious side of the fool. Though he may half-ass a lot of things, Leo put his all into composing.

When Leo composes a song, Izumi discovers, he stays very quiet and is completely unaware of his surroundings. Sometimes his unawareness is a little annoying, but it’s also strangely endearing? Sometimes he hums the tune as he composes, and though Izumi would never outright admit such a thing, but he quite likes Leo’s singing. Even if Leo is only humming right now, it’s oddly soothing.

If only every day could be this calm.


	2. Chapter 2

Ritsu Sakuma was basically the opposite of Izumi in every respect. Appearances were very important to Izumi, but for Ritsu, that was questionable. Very questionable. If anything, Ritsu presented himself as a useless bum who couldn’t button his own shirt for the life of him. The few times Izumi found himself looking over at him, Ritsu was always sleeping.

What a hopeless idiot.

Still, apparently, Leo had taken interest in that person despite his questionable worth ethic. Izumi was by no means excited to have such an unhelpful addition to their unit, but decided to let Leo do as he pleased. He didn’t really care much for this unit thing, anyways. He could always leave if things became too bothersome, right?

Like a whirlwind, Leo ran up to Ritsu’s desk and slammed his hands against the surface, forcing Ritsu to wake up in an instant. Izumi followed behind Leo with much less enthusiasm and desk-slamming.

Ritsu only eyed the two of them warily as he attempted to rub the remaining sleepiness away when Leo smiled brightly and declared, “Rittsu Sakuma, right? Join my unit!”

It seemed like that much definitely woke Ritsu up as, for a while, he only stared wide-eyed at Leo in shock and confusion from the sudden developments. In the end, he regained composure and nodded with an oddly pleased smile, “Sure~”

* * *

As he had expected, Ritsu was infuriating to work with.

Admittedly, Izumi had underestimated his skill level, but Ritsu, who slept as much as a bear and perhaps even more, who slept in class nearly every day, occasionally fell asleep during practice. As in, in the middle of a dance rehearsal, he’d literally stop, lay down on the floor, and just sleep. Just like that.

As offended as Izumi was, Leo only made things worse by laughing it off and even joining in on the spontaneous naptimes.

Seriously, these people were impossible!

It wasn’t like Izumi felt excluded during these times when the two idiots just laid down on the cold, hard ground and slept—he definitely didn’t! And if he did, then it would just be a little! Not that he did feel the slightest bit excluded! Not at all!

…Maybe just a little, but there was no way he would ever let them know.

Especially not when Ritsu would definitely tease him about it to no end.

Naptime was lame, anyway.

Thankfully, as the date of their live came closer, the other two began to be more serious during practices. The three of them would occasionally stay at school for a couple extra hours for more practice, only to get caught and scolded by Kunugi-sensei about being at school after closing hours. They never listened.

* * *

Their first live with just the three of them was… quite an experience.

Maybe an experience that Izumi really just doesn’t want to remember, but he remembers it anyway. Vividly. No, he didn’t screw up during the performance or anything. Rather, it was what came after that left him traumatized.

Their performance left a strong impression on the audience who were cheering for more from them. Though they didn’t quite have the energy to perform again, Leo apparently decided the best solution to answer their fans’ desires was through last minute fan service. He pulled Ritsu toward him and gave a quick kiss on the cheek, and then he pulled Izumi as well and gave another quick kiss on the cheek.

Except that was too much for Izumi to handle, and he nearly fainted.

Leo and Ritsu would continue to tease him about it forever and ever.

* * *

One day, Izumi and Ritsu discovered that a way to piss Leo off was by calling him the nickname which the fans had given him.

“Ou-sama, good morning~!!”

“Piss off, you two!”

* * *

Izumi eventually grew accustomed to spending the majority of his time with Leo and Ritsu. Rather, it felt weird for the three of them to not be together at all times.

Despite only being a group of first years back then, they had established a name for themselves amongst the student body. After all, when they weren’t doing lives, they were bringing justice and dragging down cocky idols who terrorized over those who were weaker than them, simply because they were idols. Leo, despite his cheerful optimism, immediately became angry whenever he spotted such a thing happening. Though it was something considered the “status quo” of the school, Leo would have no such thing, and set out to eliminate this tradition.

Although this sort of thing was nothing extraordinary compared to the things he had seen in the modeling industry, Izumi, strangely, agreed with Leo’s feelings, as did Ritsu.

A knight’s purpose was to serve their lord and protect the weak, after all.

* * *

Knights still had few days where the three of them would relax after all the fighting they did. These days were quiet, uncharacteristic for the unit that was known for their passion.

Leo would be laying on the floor of their studio, composing and humming to himself, as Izumi sat on the couch and read a book, and Ritsu used the two of them as his pillows interchangeably, depending on his mood. Some days, Leo would lean on one side of Izumi and compose, while Ritsu would lean on the other and sleep like a log. Although Izumi wasn’t one to like much physical contact, he had become more lenient with his two unit members on his aversion to touchy-feely things.

Over the course of one year, the three of them had grown quite close. Izumi had grown attached to Knights.

He had hoped these days would never end.

But all good things come to an end, after all.

* * *

Things went downhill during his second year.

After a humiliating defeat against fine, Leo left, and the studio felt cold.

At first, neither of the two realized it. They assumed his absences were only temporary. Perhaps their king just needed some time alone to recover from the loss? After all, they had been undefeated all this time, so of course this would come off as a shock, right?

However, time passed by, and Leo’s absences accumulated over the days, weeks, and months.

Eventually, the teachers stopped including his name entirely during roll call.

* * *

Ritsu sat curled up on the ground as he looked over the compositions that Leo left behind.

“Hey, Secchan.”

“What?”

“Why hasn’t Ou-sama been coming to school?”

“…Who knows?”

“When will he come back?”

“…I don’t know.”

“…Will he come back at all?”

“…”

Izumi wasn’t sure how to answer.

* * *

It’s the third year of high school, and Leo still hasn’t returned.

Izumi keeps a binder of every composition he has from Leo.

Some days, he considers throwing it out because it brings back painful memories of being abandoned by the person he admired, but he can never bring himself to do it. Part of him wants to believe that maybe there was a mistake somewhere, that Leo hadn’t abandoned Knights in their second year, but another part of him can only scorn at how naive such thinking was.

He had dedicated all his time and energy, every fiber of his being to preserving Knights (with no help from Ritsu, who went back to sleeping every minute of the day) so that Leo would have a place to return to when he came back.

If he came back.

* * *

The last thing he ever needed at this point in time was a red-haired first year to look at him with timid eyes. He basically looked like a kicked puppy, for fuck’s sake, who let him go anywhere without parental supervision? This newbie was definitely going to ask him for something idiotic like directions to the closest restroom, especially with the way he was behaving right now.

Just as Izumi was about to snark at this first year who had the nerve to get in his way, the first year, whose eyes were suddenly filled with a strong resolve and determination, finally spoke, “My name is Tsukasa Suou! Please, let me join Knights!”

* * *

Izumi has no idea what got to him, but in the end, he found himself agreeing to another thing that he felt like he would regret.

Perhaps it was because that innocent idealism of Tsukasa’s reminded him of Leo.

Perhaps he did it because he was starting to reach his limit, waiting for Leo.

Perhaps he saw Tsukasa as a replacement for Leo?

He really was a nasty person, then.

But as long as Tsukasa never found out, it would be fine, right?

**Author's Note:**

> this entire thing is self-indulgent and full of headcanons and also i gave up proof-reading for grammatical errors a long time ago!! so please be gentle with me i'm a mess doing my best...!!


End file.
